The Lessons of Humanity
by The Celestial Tiger
Summary: Youko Kurama entered a baby named Shuuichi Minamono. What was it like shedding his demon body and putting on mortal flesh? His transition must have been rough. This is my take on his childhood and the war between his human and demon spirit.
1. This Thing of Darkness

**The Celestial Tiger's Notes: **There are a million character profiles for Kurama out there and all of them describe his personality in roughly the same way…that his human personality is very different from what it was when he was wholly demon because he now has a human heart, but he is still affected at times by the tendencies of his former nature. Also, we all know that he was supposedly a not so nice child until he had a turning point at age 6 when his mother saved his life in a kitchen incident and that he started to soften after that. That's about all you ever hear regarding his human childhood…at least, it's all the information that I've been able to get hold of. It's very generalized and it just isn't sufficient to explain why Kurama harbored such guilt over his mother's failing health in the Mirror of Forlorn Hope incident.

After hearing the dialogue between Kurama and Yusuke regarding Kurama's past with his human mother, I began to wonder exactly how he was when he was a child. The way he described it, he felt as if he caused his mother's illness through his childhood behavior. That tells me that he must have been horrible to her. And even if he started to turn around at the age of 6, I'm sure it was still pretty rocky for another few years as he was making the transition into the sweeter human that we all know and love.

I'm probably somewhat off base with this, but this is my take of Kurama's human childhood. It only makes sense that it would have been pretty rough to be responsible for his mother's illness so many years later. After all, it takes long-term serious stress to wear somebody to that point. Even if he had softened up for a good while before her illness manifested itself, many years of prior emotional abuse could have caused that latent condition. That would be the only logical reason for his guilt. A mere few harsh words wouldn't have done anything. I'm convinced that it had to have been far more serious.

Lastly, I have no clue when Shiori's first husband was supposed to have left or died, or even which of those scenarios was the case. I can only guess, since I've found no information on him in my research. For the purposes of this story, I'm going to use creative license and make something up. If anybody knows for certain though, please tell me! I hate to get plot wrong if it's really out there somewhere. In fact, if anybody has any additional info on Kurama's childhood, I would love to know it! I feel that I can't do an accurate character depiction without all of the available details and I can only do so much having not seen all of the show. Ok, I've prattled enough…sorry!

* * *

**_Chapter 1: This Thing of Darkness (Shakespeare, 'The Tempest' (V, i, 275-276)_**

He was gravely injured and he was still being pursued. His energy was waning, his life ebbing. His instincts screamed for survival. Only an act of desperation would save him now. But by chance, an opportunity presented itself…his last hope, as debase as it was, and he took it. His last conscious thoughts were of his need to pass into dormancy to conserve what little of his life energy he had left. All other ramifications seemed inconsequential at the time. After all, **_anything_** was preferable to death…but it was the 'anything' that Youko Kurama would have to deal with when he awoke again.

---

He had flashes of awareness. It was dark but warm. He was surrounded by liquid. The rhythm of a heartbeat reverberated ceaselessly around him. He was confined but safe. His energy was so very low but he was at least alive and given time, he could heal. In a human body, it could take well over 10 years before he was strong enough to shed this disgraceful refuge, but he could be patient. What was a mere decade or so to someone as old as he?

---

As time passed, his awareness increased. His surroundings were so strange and the feel of this new body…it was horrid. His frailty was tangible. Helplessness was not a feeling that he was accustomed to and he loathed it. Worst of all, the essence of this detestable little creature was not solely his. Some semblance of a human spirit still seemed to remain intact within it, a presence that he could not drive out. He vowed to dominate it. It was so weak and undeveloped. He was certain that as his spirit healed and grew stronger, he could claim this body as his. That would be the first step toward regaining his freedom.

---

He grew weary of his imprisonment within this human female's womb. Humans carried their young so much longer than demons. Such weak creatures…they required extended development and still they emerged completely fragile and vulnerable. How much longer would he have to wait to at least see light again? He grew extremely resentful and restless, at times kicking and moving as much as his feeble unborn body would allow. He could only hope that he was causing as much discomfort as he felt.

"The baby's moving again!" Shiori cooed, placing her hand over the spot that was being kicked. She was at lunch with two of her friends and they immediately reached to feel. Shiori laughed lightly. "He's so active, I'm beginning to wonder if he ever sleeps in there! At least I know he's healthy, with energy like that!" Her friends laughed, their eyes sparkling with delight at the feel of the little life beating against their hands. They couldn't wait for the day that they could finally hold the baby in their arms. But no one was as eager as Shiori. She was radiant and full of joy.

---

Youko began to wonder if he had made a grievous mistake. Normally he had unparalleled patience, but he thought he might go mad if he remained trapped like this for much longer. He was a fox demon…his spirit required and demanded freedom. Despite his occupation as a thief, he had avoided incarceration his entire life. Now he had confined himself to this prison by his own choice! But there was no other option at the time and he knew it. For the sake of the preservation of his life, he had no choice but to endure this.

---

Something was odd. Something felt different. Normally, any change would have been welcomed considering how mind-numbingly monotonous his existence inside this damned human womb was. The only thing that seemed to change at all was his wretched body, which grew bigger as the space that he occupied grew tighter. However, now that something was different, he had a feeling that it was going to be unpleasant.

Tremors began to threaten. His surroundings were shifting slightly. It wasn't too worrisome at first but as time went by, the tremors became more severe. The human woman was in labor, he realized. At last, he was going to enter this new life of his and escape this detestable purgatory.

After some time, the warm liquid that housed him suddenly rushed away from him, leaving him feeling exposed and unprotected from the walls of flesh that closed in around him. Pressure surrounded him and caused him great discomfort. Everything was so tight. He would have been greatly angered but he was so relieved to be getting out that he resolved to bear the distress to this new frail body.

Just when he thought that the pressure might crush his skull, he felt cold air on the top of his head. Moments later, he felt it on his face. After a slippery rush of a feeling, his entire body was wracked with what felt like freezing air. He involuntarily shivered violently, but he soon felt cloth cover him and he was passed from one filthy human to the next as they began to perform their afterbirth rituals on him.

He was horrified to find that his senses were very much clouded. He could see no more than very unclear shapes, he could barely smell anything, and his hearing was so limited that he wondered how humans managed to survive at all. He could only hope that his senses would develop more as this body aged.

His thoughts were interrupted when someone shoved a rod in his mouth and caused him to gag a bit. He struggled against the repulsive human hands that touched him, but he refused to make any noises. There seemed to be an innate human instinct somewhere within his body to cry out but he fought it with all of his will. This was demeaning enough without giving into some debase urge to scream for no reason.

After being cleaned, poked, prodded and otherwise manhandled, he was finally wrapped up securely and placed into the arms of the woman who had served as his host. He refused to even consider the term 'mother.' That would imply a relationship between them that did not exist.

He didn't need to see, however, to know that the human woman who held him was smiling at him. He could hear it in her voice. She was pleased as she looked upon him. "My beautiful son…my little Shuuichi," he heard her say. He wanted to correct her, to tell her that he was not her little anything, but this body was incapable of speech for the time being. To his horror, what came out was a tiny sound that resembled a coo.

"He's such a quiet little baby. No crying at all," a nearby nurse remarked. She hovered over him and grinned. "He's gorgeous, Mrs. Minamino."

Shiori beamed. "Thank you!"

Youko wanted to cringe. He had never been embarrassed before in his entire life but this was humiliating. He tried his best to focus his weak human eyes on the face that was before him so that he could direct his scorn at it, but it was no use. It was like looking through filthy glass. The best he could make out was a giant fleshy blob.

Another nearby nurse chuckled. "He's looking at you so attentively," she said to Shiori. "How sweet!"

Shiori made a content noise. "He's absolutely amazing," she whispered in awe. Then she kissed his head.

That was all he could take. He felt defiled. He began to flail as violently as he could, only able to grunt his displeasure.

The nurse just smiled. "I think that's a good sign that we need to get him to the nursery. Once you're in your room and you've rested some, we'll bring him back to you." Shiori nodded and handed her baby to the nurse.

Youko only struggled more. This was intolerable! The worst part was that some aspect of his miserable human heart felt drawn to want to stay with its mother. Damn this body and damn all of these humans, he thought. But he had to remember why he was here…to hide…and to heal.

He suddenly felt very tired. His eyes threatened to close despite his best efforts to keep them open. This body wore out entirely too easily. He hated the thought of sleeping in the presence of enemies, but he had no choice. And if this brief time was any indication of what life as a human would be like, he was in for hell. Worst of all, he was helpless to do anything about it. With that, his eyes closed and all went dark and quiet for a while.


	2. Oh, I Am Fortune's Fool!

**The Celestial Tiger's Notes: **I'm arbitrarily assigning Mr. Minamino a name. I have no clue if he was ever officially given a first name so I'm making one up, just like I'll be inventing everything else about him since I still haven't found even a scrap of info on him. I think he was just a token character, since they didn't even bother to explain what happened to him. I'm going to flesh him out though, since he's at least important to Shiori. For crying out loud, he's Shuuichi's father. I think he deserves some coverage.

By the way, Kurama's not going to be a brat from the stand-point of pitching tantrums or throwing things around. That's just out of character, and I don't want anybody to be turned off by thinking that I'm heading in that direction. No, he's far more cruel and devious…into mind games and emotional abuse. That takes a much greater toll than physical misbehavior. This will become a very angsty fic as he gets a little older.

On a different note, I want to take a moment to insert a shameless plug. I currently have two other stories. One is a Yu Yu Hakusho/Inuyasha crossover entitled _"A Mission of Epic Proportions" _in which the YYH team must go to the past with Kagome and team up with the Inuyasha group to ensure the survival of humanity. The other is an Inuyasha character introspection collection entitled _"In Your Heart of Hearts." _Each chapter basically delves into a different character's innermost thoughts and feelings. If you like this story, you'd definitely like my other introspections.

* * *

**_Chapter 2: Oh, I Am Fortune's Fool! (Shakespeare, 'Romeo and Juliet' (III, i, 141))_**

Shiori awoke to find her husband sitting beside her. She smiled lovingly at him but her smile faltered when she saw that there was a grave look in his eyes. "Ryuuichi?" she questioned tentatively. "What's wrong?"

Ryuuichi cleared his throat reluctantly. "Shiori…the doctor says that he needs to talk with us about something important…"

Shiori's eyes instantly widened and her heart stopped momentarily. "Shuuichi?" she breathed in terror.

Ryuuichi grasped her hand and squeezed it gently. "Don't panic, sweetheart. They said he seems fine so far but they have some…concerns."

Shiori tried to sit up. "But they said he was healthy! There was nothing wrong with him!"

Her husband gently pushed her back down. "Please, Shiori. You have to calm down. Let's wait until we hear what the doctor has to say before we jump to conclusions." Before Shiori could respond, the door to the room opened and the doctor stepped in. He was instantly assaulted with a rapid fire of questions to which he held up his hands to silence them. He then approached the foot of the bed.

"There's no cause for great alarm at this point in time," he said delicately. "Your baby seemed perfectly healthy when he was born but he didn't cry at all. For that reason, we placed him under observation to make sure that there wasn't a problem. We were hoping that he'd cry when he woke up, but we haven't gotten a sound out of him. Now…sometimes this is a sign that there might be some complications. His respiration appears normal but we'd like to run some tests, just to make sure that his lungs are healthy and clear and that there are no other problems that might cause him to be so silent."

"Do whatever you have to do to make sure that our son is ok," replied Ryuuichi resolutely. Shiori nodded without hesitation.

The doctor smiled kindly at them. "Don't worry. His vitals have been textbook so far. There's most likely nothing at all wrong, but we're just erring on the side of caution."

"We understand, Doctor," Ryuuichi affirmed.

Shiori nodded as well. "Please take good care of him."

The doctor offered them a reassuring smile. "Absolutely," he said optimistically and with that, he left them alone again.

Shiori looked up at her husband. "I pray that he's alright."

Ryuuichi caressed her face. "So do I. But he's getting the best care. He's in good hands."

---

COLD! Damn, this metal was cold! Youko couldn't prevent a gasp from escaping as they laid him on a cold metal table of some sort. Now what were they doing to him? He felt almost certain that they didn't put all human infants through these tortures. He found himself looking up at a very strange device that hummed annoyingly. What in hell was this supposed to accomplish?

He seemed to be passed from one machine to the next. He kicked and struggled, but like it or not, he was helpless to prevent it. The most he could do was grimace and be as uncooperative as he could, which in the end didn't amount to much at all.

"He's a feisty little guy!" one of the nurses remarked to another.

"He sure is," the other replied. "With that much spunk, I can't see why the doctor thinks there's something wrong."

'_I'll tell you what's wrong with me,' _thought Youko._ 'I'm stuck in this feeble, disgusting body.'_ He squirmed against the nurse's hold on him and she just chuckled. _'Damn it all!'_ he thought fiercely. _'Fate must surely be laughing right along with her, to find me here in this self-inflicted wretchedness.'_

_---_

He didn't know which was worse, the testing or the squalling of human infants around him once he was returned to his place in the nursery. It was maddeningly loud and for just a fleeting moment, he was almost grateful that his human hearing was so dull.

He lay there sourly for a while until a nurse came in and retrieved him. 'Now what?' he thought sardonically. As she made her way through the halls, he began to feel a strange pull in the direction that she was taking him. This feeling was originating from the damned human heart that beat within his chest.

The nurse took him to a new room, and within it they found the human woman who had birthed him. A foreign instinct told him to be comforted, but he rejected it violently. This woman was no different from any other vile human. He refused to acknowledge a connection with her. But it was in this woman's arms that he was placed.

The nurse then stepped aside and the doctor entered the room, smiling pleasantly. "Well, Mr. and Mrs. Minamino…we've examined this little guy inside and out and there's absolutely nothing wrong with him."

The relief of stress from Shiori and Ryuuichi was tangible. Shiori cradled at her son. "Thank the heavens!"

The doctor grinned at them. "Well…now that all of that's over, I think it's high time he got something to eat. We had to withhold feeding him because of the tests. I'll be he's starving."

Shiori chuckled lightly and looked down at her baby. "I bet you are hungry after all of that!"

Youko hadn't thought about it. He'd been so angry that he hadn't even considered this body's hunger. But now that it was brought to his attention, he noticed it…a pain in his stomach. Perhaps this underlying pain had added to his foul mood without his realizing.

The nurse handed Shiori a bottle and left but the doctor remained. Shiori then brought the nipple of the bottle up to her son's mouth and coaxed him to take it.

This was by far the most demeaning thing yet! Did they actually expect him to lower himself to the point of accepting their patronizing? That would be as much as acknowledging that he needed them! He turned his head away from the intruding object.

"Come on, Shuuichi," Shiori cajoled. She tried again only to press the nipple against clamped lips. She frowned and then looked up at the doctor.

The doctor looked thoughtful. "It's not unusual for babies to reject being bottle fed. Have you considered breast-feeding him?"

Youko froze inside. He was not about to close his mouth around a vile human teat!

Shiori sighed. "We were hoping to bottle-feed so that my husband could help. But…if it's the only way he'll eat, I suppose it'll have to be that way."

The doctor nodded and turned toward the door. "I'll leave you to it, then. Call a nurse if you need anything."

"Thank you, Doctor," Ryuuichi said and when the door closed, he returned his attention to his wife and son. "Well…let's give this a try."

Shiori looked into his eyes. "Are you alright with this?"

Ryuuichi smiled resignedly. "I'm alright with whatever works at this point."

Shiori offered him an apologetic smile and then proceeded in her attempt to breast-feed their son. To their dismay, this effort was met with even more resistance than before.

Youko turned away fiercely, flailing his arms in an attempt to bat away the unwelcome flesh. He grunted his displeasure and squirmed with all of his might.

Shiori finally gave up and sighed forlornly. "Why won't he eat?"

Ryuuichi leaned down and caressed his son's head. "What's wrong, little guy? The doctor said you were fine. Please don't do this. Please…"

Tears began to form in Shiori's eyes. "I know they said he was fine, but there must be something wrong."

"Try the bottle again, sweetheart," said Ryuuichi softly. "Maybe he's just in a bit of shock after all of those tests. With patience, maybe he'll take to it."

Shiori tried again and again only to be fought at every attempt. She finally pressed the nurse's button and by the time a nurse got to the room, Shiori was in tears. "He won't eat," she choked out desperately.

"He's spitting the bottle out?" the nurse asked with concern.

"He won't take it at all," responded Ryuuichi. "We can't even get it into his mouth. It's like he doesn't want anything in his mouth at all. We tried bottle-feeding and breast-feeding and he won't have anything to do with either."

The nurse frowned and sighed. "Well...his tests all came out clear. There's no reason that he should be doing that. If you want, we could try a few other things. I have to tell you, though, that if he doesn't eat soon, we'll have to put a feeding tube into him."

Youko suddenly began to rethink his abstinence. They were going to keep torturing him, thinking that something was internally wrong with him if he didn't start acting like a normal human baby. He could not abide by having them shove their medical instruments into his body.

Aside from that, no matter how reprehensible it was to be 'fed' by these contemptible creatures, refusing nourishment was foolish. The whole reason that he had debased himself like this in the first place was for his own survival. It would all be in vain if he allowed himself to starve for the principle of pride.

Youko was ripped out of his thoughts when a drop of moisture fell on his cheek. It had fallen from the face of the woman who was holding him. She was crying. _'Disgustingly weak,' _he thought to himself disdainfully.

Shiori was miserable. "Isn't there anything else we can do before resorting to that?" she asked, her voice trembling with emotion.

The nurse held out her hand. "Hand me that bottle. I'll get a fresh one...maybe he's just really picky." Shiori nodded and handed her the bottle, daring to hope that it would work.

When the nurse returned with a fresh bottle and handed it over, Shiori took in a deep breath. "Please...take it," she whispered. Ryuuichi echoed her sentiment and they both held their breath as Shiori brought the nipple up to their son's mouth.

Youko swallowed as much pride as he could and allowed the tip entrance. The gasp of excitement from everyone in the room made him want to spit it right back out but he couldn't risk the chance that they might take it as a sign to start jamming things into him.

He sighed in resignation and began to draw from the object within his mouth. The liquid was bearable but not altogether pleasant. Still, he found himself once again without a choice.

Shiori and Ryuuichi were overjoyed. They poured over him and cooed and prattled endlessly now that their fears had been lifted. Even the nurse was greatly relieved but she soon left them to have some proper bonding time.

After he had ingested all that he could stomach, Youko had to endure the nauseating affections of these two humans as they fussed over him. They identified themselves as 'Mommy' and 'Daddy' and spewed all sorts of repulsive sentiments. He detested being pawed at and cuddled but he knew that he couldn't fight it right now.

To make matters worse, that damned feeling was back...that foreign instinct to be comforted by their presence. He suppressed it, determined to triumph and smother it for good some day.

He was overly grateful when sleep once again tugged at the corners of his consciousness. He had given up on the idea of resisting sleep in the presence of his human adversaries. Sleep afforded him the only break he could get. At least in slumber, he could achieve some measure of peace, so he welcomed it this time.


	3. Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be!

**The Celestial Tiger's Notes: **I want to offer a massive thank you to everyone who reviewed and who gave me information. You guys are awesome! Because I'm obsessive/compulsive by nature, I went ahead and ordered the mangas. Those together with what you've provided should tell me everything there is to know that's out there. I know I'm nuts. But I don't suffer from insanity…I enjoy it. Heh heh heh.

One note about points of view. You will notice that I'm currently referring to Kurama as Youko. That's because that is almost solely his dominant personality right now, so he still thinks of himself as being Youko. I will begin referring to him as Kurama as his human side begins to manifest itself more. I know that the name Kurama is nothing more than his non-human personal name…Youko Kurama. It technically has no ties with his humanity, but I see the change in name from Youko to Kurama as signifying something. Since Youko is not only his name but also his demon classification, moving away from this as a name signifies a waning of his demon self. The name Kurama would then represent the memory and presence, but not the heart of who he once was. Lastly, if a paragraph is from the point of view of anyone else, he will be referred to as Shuuichi, since that's how they would know him.

I hope like crazy that all of that made some semblance of sense. You'd laugh if you knew how long it took me to get that paragraph to my explanatory satisfaction.

* * *

**_Chapter 3: Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be! (Shakespeare, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (III, ii, 115)) _**

Of all of the degrading things that he had experienced so far, he quickly came to the conclusion that the human need to produce waste was by far the most horrific humiliation yet! It wasn't like he could avoid it. He was limited to the natural processes of this body he was in. And worse than soiling himself was the necessity to be cleaned up. He hated being handled as it was, but especially when it involved his most sensitive parts. It only served to further strengthen his hatred of humanity.

---

At last he was leaving the cursed medical establishment! The human man and woman were taking him to what he supposed was their home…the place that he would have to accept as his dwelling for the time being. He sat in a baby-seat in the middle of the back seat of the car, staring between the humans in the front to see out of the anterior glass. His vision was still very obscure and he lacked the ability to see much color, but it was at least wonderful to see the light of day again.

Shiori glanced backward at Shuuichi and sighed, turning her attention to Ryuuichi. "Do you think…" she started but hesitated.

Ryuuichi cast his glance over to her. "Think what, sweetheart?"

"Well…do you think he's really alright?"

Ryuuichi smiled warmly. "He's fine, dear. The doctor gave him a squeaky-clean bill of health."

Shiori still looked troubled. "I know…it's just that…well…he's just behaving so differently. He doesn't cry…and I know this is going to sound silly, but…I just get this feeling that he doesn't like being touched or held."

Ryuuichi chuckled softly. "Honey, I think you're being a little too paranoid…or at least expecting a bit too much so soon. He's an infant. He doesn't know what he wants. He doesn't know what to make of anything right now."

Youko scoffed inwardly. _'I know what I want but I have to wait ten years to get it. In the meantime, I have to suffer through this miserable existence.'_

Shiori sighed and looked forward again. "You're probably right. I know it's silly, but it's just a little nagging feeling. Maybe it's just post-partum or something."

Ryuuichi took one hand from the steering wheel and gently grasped Shiori's closest hand. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

Shiori smiled softly and tucked her worries into a corner of her mind for a while.

---

He didn't remember falling asleep in the transportation device, but apparently he had, for he awoke to find himself in completely different surroundings. _'Damn weak human body!'_ he thought as he tried his best to look around. He was in some sort of bed, surrounded on all sides by a wall lined with fabric, as far as he could make out anyway. There was something hanging directly above him, but he couldn't really focus his eyes on it. It was close enough that he could make out the rough shapes, but nothing more.

Oh, how he hated these human senses…or what felt like a having a lack of senses to him. It was like someone had scratched at his eyes, stuffed his ears, pinched off his nose, and cut out his tongue. He longed for even one of his demon senses to return to him. Mostly, he wanted his keen sense of sight back. Then, at least he wouldn't feel so much in the dark about the things around him.

---

Three days found Youko adjusting a bit better. He still loathed his situation but at least this place was relatively quiet. He weathered the more debase aspects of humanity with silent irritation and occupied his mind with trying to learn everything he could about this peculiar world that he would have to fit into for a while. He memorized the names of any unfamiliar human objects that he happened to hear and tried to learn of their function.

He also found out that the dangling contraption over his bed was called a mobile and could be made to spin while playing music. Apparently, this was supposed to keep him occupied. All it actually served to do was annoy the hell out of him. The music it played was high-pitched and puerile and the slow motion over his head distracted him from his own thoughts.

Still, he preferred lying there under that thing rather than being carted around or being forced to put up with the affections of the humans. He couldn't wait until he was strong enough to push away…to communicate his revulsion in more discernable ways. He may have to live as a human, but that didn't mean that he had to adopt some affectionate persona. He wanted to retain at least some shred of his dignity.

---

One morning, Youko awoke to hear several unfamiliar female voices emanating from elsewhere in the house. It wasn't long before Shiori came and retrieved him, carrying him into the living room where he was proudly presented to this chorus of cackling hens.

"This is Shuuichi," Shiori announced with delight. The women instantly ooed and aahed and cooed and giggled.

'_Oh, Inari,'_ thought Youko. _'Anything but this!'_

No sooner had that thought echoed through his mind than the five women clustered around, pawing at him and making all sorts of ridiculous faces and unintelligible noises. Unfortunately, they were right in his face so he could see them better than he cared to. They were making absolute fools of themselves…did they not realize how brainless they looked and sounded?

"Can I hold him?" one of the women suddenly asked. Youko stiffened. He couldn't stand the thought of being passed around. To his horror, Shiori handed him to the woman almost immediately.

"Oh, he's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen!" the woman cooed. "Hello, little one…you're so pwecious…yes you are."

'_And you are a damned idiot,'_ Youko replied inwardly. Oh, how he wished he could speak!

"My turn!" another one of the women proclaimed and he was passed along. "Just look at that! He's already got hair…and it's red!"

Youko was surprised by this. Red hair…that was certainly different! He couldn't imagine himself with red hair. Of course, at this point, he hadn't a clue about what he looked like as a human. He wasn't so certain that he even wanted to know.

He was then passed to the next woman. "Aww…he's so sweet!"

Shiori smiled and nodded. "He never cries and we couldn't have asked for him to have a better sleeping pattern. In fact, he's so quiet that we have to set a timer to keep track of feeding him and checking on him. He doesn't even cry to let us know if he wants something."

The first woman who had held him chuckled. "I wish my Kenji would have been like that. He cried all the time and always seemed to want to be awake when we wanted to sleep."

All of the women shared a giggle and then went along chattering inanely. They truly did remind Youko of hens clucking away at one another. Oh, how he wanted to get away from them.

Contrary to his wishes, however, he was passed to the next woman. "You know…I think he's going to be a smart one," she said. "You can see it in his eyes. There's a look of intelligence there."

'_A great deal more intelligence and wisdom than all of you possess together,'_ he corrected her internally.

Finally, he was handed to the last woman. She grinned and sighed contentedly. "I just love babies," she bubbled. "So tiny and precious!" She then looked up at Shiori. "You know…if you ever need anybody to baby-sit for you, I'd be happy to do it." The rest of the women instantly chimed in their agreements.

Shiori nodded and smiled. "Thank you! We'll definitely keep that in mind." She then accepted Shuuichi back and held him against her body rather than just cradling him in her arms. He had given no indication that he was anxious of new people, but one of those unexplainable feelings told her that he didn't like being around them. She decided to put him back in his bassinette. He often seemed to be the most content there.

She stood and smiled politely. "I know you all came here to see the baby, but I don't want to overload him. If you don't mind, I'm going to put him back in the nursery for now." Upon receiving nods of understanding, she began to walk him back to his room.

Youko relaxed. Finally! He was going to be alone again! After that fiasco, all he wanted was some silence. Shiori placed him in his bassinette but much to his chagrin, she turned on the mobile before she left. _'Damn!' _No silence.

* * *

**Additional Notes: **Don't worry, it will start to move a bit faster from here. I'm not going to keep going day by day. That would get pretty exhaustive and boring. Someone did ask me how much I was going to cover. I actually haven't decided yet but if I retain the patience for writing this, I'll probably take it all the way to the Mirror of Forlorn Hope incident. Once again…yes, I am crazy. 

Oh, and I know it's kind of humorous right now. That's purposeful because it will get pretty dark later.


	4. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow…

**The Celestial Tiger's Notes: **I got the manga so I've now got Kurama's account of his story. It included a few more details but is still pretty open to interpretation so I'll keep going. I have one question remaining. Where might I find the account of Kurama's first encounter with Hiei? I'll get to that some day and I'd like to get it right.

This chapter is a bit short but I went over it several times trying to find something to add to it and it just seemed complete as it was. I suppose after such a lengthy absence, I'm doing good to get this much up. I hope it is enjoyable.

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_**Chapter 4: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow… (Shakespeare, 'Macbeth' (V, v, 19)) **_

Much to Youko's great relief, as time progressed, so did the development of his senses…particularly his eyesight. Things ceased to be blurry, incoherent forms and started taking shape. His perceptions of depth, movement and color all improved in a matter of a couple of months. He also developed far greater control of his eyes than he had before. They now moved and focused where he wanted them to instead of wandering uncooperatively.

To say that his vision was still a far cry from what his demon vision had been would have been an understatement in the least, but he was just grateful to be able to identify objects now. In fact, he had finally been able to make out what the mobile looked like. It was a strange oddity of tiny fake animals, each hanging from a string. They dangled lifelessly as if strung up by the neck, their eyes open and vapid. Youko laughed internally at this. Such a morbid thing for humans to suspend above their young.

---

Day by day ticked by, each filled with excruciating boredom. He was running out of things to occupy his mind with. He had learned all that he could possibly learn given the current limitations of his scope. The days passed with nothing to do but contemplate. The problem was that he had exhausted all possible trains of thought. There was only so much that one could think on things before they became absolutely tiresome to think on any longer. And he had long since decided that revisiting memories of his demon life was out of the question. It merely served to make him that much more restless and frustrated, thinking on what he'd lost and reinforcing through comparison just how pathetic his current state was.

He found that he had taken to sighing a lot. He tried to avoid it when the humans were around because they seemed to think that it was cute. At times he found himself just staring blankly at the wall, trying with all of his might to escape reality for a few moments. It seemed, however, that every time he would achieve the de-realization that he desired, one of those damned humans would hover around him, seemingly concerned that something was wrong. So it was with great acrimony that he decided he would have to cease this method of escape.

---

It was terribly frustrating having to be carried everywhere. The best he could do to express his displeasure was to turn his head away from them, stiffen at their touch and frown discontentedly. He could hardly wait until he had use of his limbs for mobility. At least then he would have some semblance of independence. It would also mean that he would minimize the amount of time he was forced to spend in the arms of humans. And the sooner this disaffection happened, the better, because it seemed that his human heart prompted him to desire being held. It was really becoming a great nuisance and he fiercely dismissed any twinges of contentment that threatened to arise.

He worked every day at using his limbs. He was disgusted at how weak his human musculature was but he knew that it would grow stronger if he exercised it. He did this only when he was alone, however, because he really didn't want to suffer an audience and all of the burbling and cooing that usually accompanied every new thing he did.

---

Even at four months of age, Shiori and Ryuuichi knew that their baby was not a normal child. Aside from what they had experienced with him right after his birth, they had begun to notice other idiosyncrasies...yet more behavioral peculiarities that they added to their list of concerns. By this time, they had quite a list.

Shuuichi was supposed to start vocalizing more, according to the books they had on baby development, but he was still as silent as the grave. They tried to coax him to make noise but he only responded to this by avoiding eye contact and scowling. He still didn't cry or fuss, but it was now more apparent than ever that he was thoroughly discontent with human interaction. Anytime they picked him up to hold him, he became withdrawn and distant. Shiori couldn't shake the feeling that he was merely tolerating the interaction. She couldn't stand the thought that her own son didn't want her affections.

In addition, he didn't seem to want to grab at things or put anything into his mouth. He seemed thoroughly disinterested in toys of any kind or in any other thing that would normally captivate a child's attention. Instead, his attention always seemed to be diverted to adult happenings and affairs and little details that an infant shouldn't even be aware of. To those things, he watched and listened with an intensity uncharacteristic of any normal baby. Often, they imagined that he expressed a broader range of emotions than he should have been capable of and he showed signs of understanding that went far beyond infantile comprehension. At times, they would even almost swear that he had an ear directed toward their conversations and thought they glimpsed him deliberately divert his eyes when they looked at him.

This seemingly keen awareness was very much inconsistent with his dour and withdrawn demeanor. One moment he was staring blankly into space, the next moment his eyes would glint with something akin to shrewdness. This, together with his growing aversion to human interaction, was frightening Shiori and Ryuuichi more and more each day.

---

"Ryuuichi?" Shiori suddenly interrupted the silence that had stretched throughout most of their dinner one evening.

"What is it, Shiori?" Ryuuichi asked, snapping out of the mental distraction that was causing him to poke at his meal more than eat it.

"What are we going to do?" Shiori blurted out, her eyes already misting over. "We have to do something...find someone who can give us some answers. I want to know why my baby is acting like this!"

Ryuuichi closed his eyes and sighed deeply, placing his fork gently down on his plate with a soft clink. "I know. I've already started looking into some people...specialists on autism and personality disorders."

Shiori stared at him in horror. "Oh god...do you really think it could be something like that?" she asked, her voice quivering.

"I don't know. I did some research and it is possible, but I'm not going to jump to any conclusions before we consult a professional." Shiori pushed her plate of nearly untouched food away as if it were something vile. Then she buried her face in her hands and began to cry softly. Ryuuichi rose from his seat and came around to her, wrapping his arms around her from the back. "It'll be ok, sweetheart. Whatever happens, we'll get through it together, ok?"

Shiori stood and turned to let Ryuuichi draw her into a full embrace. She cried softly into his chest but found his strength and reassurances a source of comfort. She finally nodded, sniffling as she tried to quell her tears. "I'll be ok as long as I have you," she said softly.

Ryuuichi smiled gently. "Then you have nothing to fear...I'm not going anywhere."

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**Additional Notes: **Gotta love foreshadowing...hehheh. Anyhow, please leave me a review. :) 


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